The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

But Zhao Xing said, "Brother, I think Brother Jia's words are not without reason. Besides, who says that a plan can only be implemented in one way?"

After Zhao Xing's reminder, Li Ren suddenly realized what was going on.

When Jia Jue mentioned the "three strategies," Li Ren subconsciously assumed that he had to choose one.

He had been implementing Jia Jue's "middle strategy," and the results had been quite remarkable. Recently, the court's evaluation of him, the third prince, had improved considerably. However, he now realized that Jia Jue's "best strategy" also made sense.

To put it bluntly, wasn't this the same strategy that enabled Emperor Yang of Sui to seize the throne?

He had already invested a lot of energy and resources in his original plan to build his "reputation," and he didn't want to give up.

He hesitated for a moment.

Zhao Xing's reminder gave Li Ren a renewed sense of direction.

Jia Jue was also watching Li Ren's performance.

He naturally noticed Li Ren's hesitation, and his evaluation of Li Ren became much more objective.

This prince was ambitious, patient, cautious, and talented, yet he was hesitant and indecisive.

The three of them drank again, and the banquet lasted for several hours before it ended.

By the time Jia Jue returned to the Jia mansion, the sun had already set.

As soon as Jia Jue entered the courtyard, he saw Musk Moon coming over to speak to him.

"What's wrong?" Jia Jue asked.

It turns out that it was Lady Yuan, the wife of Jia Jue's maternal uncle, Prince Teng. The day after tomorrow is her birthday, and Madam had just sent someone over to invite Jia Jue to celebrate with her.

Wang Ziteng.

Jia Jue thought for a moment,

He is currently the commander of the Beijing garrison, and it won't be long before he becomes the commander of nine provinces.

Jia Jue said to Musk Moon, "Take out the clothes I'll be wearing the day after tomorrow and have them ready, so we don't end up scrambling at the last minute."

Musk Moon smiled and said, "It's already prepared."

Jia Jue smiled and said, "Musk Moon is so thoughtful."

"What, am I not careful enough?"

Qingwen, who was standing nearby, happened to hear this and asked Jia Jue about it.

"You're thoughtful too," Jia Jue said with a smile.

"Don't give me that," Qingwen sneered. "I'm not as thoughtful as her, always considering your needs."

After saying that, he left.

Jia Jue smiled at Musk Moon and said, "I wonder what kind of poison she took today, why is she so impulsive?"

Musk Moon quickly gestured for Jia Jue to stop talking.

Sure enough, Qingwen, who had just left, ran back and said, "I didn't eat any choking medicine!"

After saying that, he snorted and left.

After Qingwen left, Mushe carefully said to Jia Jue, "Today, Master's wet nurse, Granny Wang, came. When she came in, Qingwen was feeding Master's parrot in the room and didn't see her. Granny Wang complained that Qingwen wasn't careful and said a few words to her. Qingwen, being the fiery temper she is, argued back. Master thought, how old is Qingwen, and how old is Granny Wang? Besides, Granny Wang is Master's wet nurse, so she can't be criticized. That's why she's so upset."

Jia Jue nodded and said, "I see."

This kind of atmosphere has always been present in the Jia family.

The wet nurses of the young masters, in particular, were especially domineering and would not tolerate any dissatisfaction from others.

She even treated the young masters with some disregard because they had drunk her milk when they were children.

Among them, Baoyu's wet nurse, Granny Li, was the worst.

Although Granny Wang was not as good as Granny Li, she was still not someone to be trifled with.

However, Jia Jue couldn't interfere now, since she was his wet nurse. If he spoke too harshly, he might be branded as "unfilial" or "ungrateful."

Jia Jue then said to Musk Moon, "I'll go check on her."

With that, he got up and went over.

Upon stepping outside, Jia Jue saw Qingwen watering the flowers in the courtyard. He laughed and said, "Why did you come? Watering the flowers so late at night."

Qingwen said, "It's my fault. I wasn't careful enough. Master, go and tell the old lady to replace me."

Jia Jue laughed and said, "Why are you doing this? Granny Wang is old, and you're still young. Just let her have her way." Seeing that no one was around, Jia Jue leaned closer and said, "As the saying goes, 'Don't argue with a fool.' You're so clever, why bother arguing with her?"

Qingwen didn't speak, but judging from her expression, she was clearly somewhat reassured.

Jia Jue then said, "Although it's already spring, the chill of early spring is still quite strong. Come inside quickly, or you'll catch a cold."

Qingwen said, "Why are you so delicate?" Then she went back with Jia Jue.

There wasn't much to mention that evening, but if I had to say something, it would be that Yuanyang actually had someone bring over the cauldron that the old lady had mentioned.

Looking at the graphite tripod, Jia Jue couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

If he remembered correctly, this should have been a gift from Grandmother Jia to Xue Baochai.

I never expected to give it to myself first.

-

As the sun rises, the morning glow stretches for miles.

Jia Jue remembered a proverb from her elementary school Chinese textbook in her previous life:

Morning glow means stay home; evening glow means travel far.

If that's true, it looks like it's going to rain today.

Just as Fang was about to go to the old lady's place to pay his respects, he saw Daiyu and Xiangyun coming towards him.

Upon meeting, Shi Xiangyun, who had a lisp, immediately said, "I love you, brother."

Lin Daiyu laughed from the side, "Yun'er is the most interesting. She 'loves' you and 'uh' as ​​soon as she sees you."

Shi Xiangyun said, "Of course I can't compare to Sister Lin. I just hope that I can find a brother-in-law with a lisp in the future, so that Sister Lin can hear 'love' and 'uh' all day long. That would be interesting."

Daiyu laughed and said, "Watch your mouth." As she spoke, she went over to tickle her.

Xiangyun ran behind Jia Jue, hiding and laughing at the same time.

Jia Jue separated the two of them and said with a smile, "Are you two sisters also going to pay your respects to the old lady? Why don't you go together?"

Both of them nodded, agreeing that it was perfectly acceptable.

Xiangyun said to Jia Jue first, "Brother Ai, now that you have passed the imperial examination with top honors, I don't have anything good to give you. But this sachet is something I made myself. It may not be very valuable, but it is a token of my good wishes."

Jia Jue laughed and said, "Why are you being so formal, Sister Yun? What you did was of course excellent."

Daiyu sneered, "Yun'er is skillful, so of course her things are excellent. Unlike me, who is clumsy and can't make anything good."

Shi Xiangyun replied, "I saw that Sister Lin embroidered a beautiful new purse last night. Isn't it also for Brother Ai?"

Daiyu blushed and said, "Pah, who gave it to him? He was just embroidering it for fun."

Shi Xiangyun retorted, "Would you embroider those eight characters, 'Toad Palace and Laurel' or 'Ascending to Higher Levels,' just for fun?"

Daiyu remained silent.

Knowing that Daiyu was shy, Jia Jue changed the subject, saying, "Let's go quickly, it won't be good if we stay any longer."

Shi Xiangyun sneered, "Hmph, if you love your brother, then side with Sister Lin."

This one sentence caused both of them to blush and even shed a few tears.